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Using Microsoft Transaction Server with Oracle

This chapter describes Microsoft Transaction Server and Oracle database server integration.

This chapter contains these topics:

• Microsoft Transaction Server Overview
  
  
• Microsoft Transaction Server and Oracle Integration Overview
  
  
• Getting Started with Microsoft Transaction Server and Oracle

Microsoft Transaction Server Overview

Microsoft Transaction Server is a proprietary component object model (COM) transaction processing system that runs on an Internet or network server. Microsoft Transaction Server deploys and manages application and database transaction requests on behalf of a client computer. Microsoft Transaction Server provides the following:

• An ActiveX/distributed component object model (DCOM) programming model to develop distributed applications and a runtime environment in which to deploy these applications
  
  
• Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability (ACID) properties to components in transactions
  
  
• Access to performance enhancing features such as component caching and database connection pooling

Microsoft Transaction Server is a component of the three-tiered, server-centric architecture model. This enables the presentation, business logic, and data elements of applications to be clearly separated onto different computers connected in a network.

Microsoft Transaction Server and Oracle Integration Overview

Without any special integration, you can deploy a COM component in Microsoft Transaction Server that connects to an Oracle database server release 8.0.6 or higher. To use either of the following features, however, you must install Oracle Services for Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS):

• Register the COM component as transactional (using the Properties dialog box of the component in the Microsoft Management Console Explorer) and have Microsoft Transaction Server control the transaction
  
  
• Use client-side connection pooling in Microsoft Transaction Server

After Oracle Services for Microsoft Transaction Server is installed, an Oracle MTS Recovery Service is also automatically installed on the same computer. The Oracle MTS Recovery Service coordinates Microsoft Transaction Server-related Oracle transactions originating from that computer. On each database server to which the COM component connects, you perform the following:

• Create the Microsoft Transaction Server administrator user account.
  
  
• Schedule a database server-level transaction recovery job.

This enables the database server to participate in Microsoft Transaction Server-started transactions.

Create the COM component with any of the following Oracle products:

• Oracle Call Interface (OCI)
  
  
• Oracle Objects for OLE (OO4O)
  
  
• Oracle Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) Driver
  
  
• Oracle Provider for OLE DB

Additional application programmatic interfaces (APIs) may be integrated in the future.

Figure 1-1 shows how Microsoft Transaction Server and the database server are integrated into the three-tiered, server-centric model.

Figure 1-1 Microsoft Transaction Server and Database Server Integration

Text description of the illustration ntmts001.gif

Getting Started with Microsoft Transaction Server and Oracle

You are now ready to use Microsoft Transaction Server with a database server. To get started quickly, follow the chapters identified in Table 1-1 in the order listed.

Table 1-1 Getting Started with Microsoft Transaction Server and Oracle

To Perform The Following Task...	See...
Install the Oracle and Microsoft products required for Microsoft Transaction Server and database server integration. Migrate from a previous release of Oracle Services for Microsoft Transaction Server.	Chapter 2, "Installing and Migrating Oracle Products"
Create the Microsoft Transaction Server administrator user account. Schedule a Microsoft Transaction Server transaction recovery job.	Chapter 3, "Managing Recovery Scenarios"
Run the Microsoft application demo.	Chapter 4, "Running the Microsoft Application Demo" for information about running an application demo that: Uses transactional COM components hosted by Microsoft Transaction Server Accesses a database server in a transaction controlled by Microsoft Transaction Server
Create Microsoft Transaction Server-hosted COM applications.	Chapter 5, "Programming with Microsoft Transaction Server and an Oracle Database Server" for instructions on using OCI, OO4O, Oracle ODBC Driver, or Oracle Provider for OLE DB with COM-based applications.
Learn about differences between Microsoft Transaction Server on Windows NT and Windows 2000.	Appendix A, "Using Oracle Services for Microsoft Transaction Server on Windows 2000"